Peer-reviewed article
[Female Genital Mutilation: knowledge, attitudes and practices of health professionals on the island of Tenerife. Do we live with our backs to this reality?]
Correa Ventura N, Báez Quintana D ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed health professionals in Tenerife, Spain about their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding female genital mutilation (FGM). Nearly one-fifth of respondents reported encountering FGM cases, but most lacked training and knowledge about the practice, its types, and affected countries. The study found that professionals who had received specific training were better at recognizing and detecting FGM cases.
Key points
- 19.7% of health professionals surveyed had encountered a FGM case during their practice
- Only 19% of respondents had received training on FGM
- 26.8% of professionals could correctly identify the typology of FGM
- Only 6.3% knew of a specific protocol for managing FGM cases
- Specific training on FGM increased case detection rates and knowledge of the practice
Limitations
The study is descriptive and cross-sectional, so it cannot establish causal relationships between training and knowledge. The relatively small sample (142 questionnaires) and online survey method may not be representative of all health professionals in Tenerife or account for response bias.
Abstract
Objective Female genital mutilation is present in 31 countries, affecting 200 million women and girls. Due to migratory movements, cases have been described in western countries which receive part of this immigration. Spain gets an important migratory flow from countries at risk, and the Canary Islands represents an important route of entry. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices about FGM among health professionals in the island of Tenerife. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study about the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices among health professionals in the Island of Tenerife was conducted based on an online questionnaire. Gynaecologists, family doctors, paediatricians, nurses, midwives and social workers were included in the study. Frequency and percentage were calculated to describe the nominal variables and mean ± standard deviation for the quantitative variables. For the statistical treatment of the data, the R software was used. Results 142 questionnaires were analysed. A total of 19.7% of the professionals surveyed responded that they had found a case during their professional practice, 19% claimed to have received training, 26.8% correctly recognized the typology and 15.5% the countries of prevalence. Only 6.3% claimed to know a specific protocol for action. Conclusions There are cases of FGM in the Island of Tenerife. In general, the respondents show a lack of knowledge about the practice, its typology, the countries where it takes place, or the reasons why it is carried out. Specific training on the subject increased the rate of case detection and the knowledge of the practice.